Chamonix Bike Blog

Category: Trail conditions

Ultra! (wet)

I’m not really sure what the trail conditions are about Chamonix at the moment, for the last week everyone’s been too busy with the 4 Ultra Trail races, either working, supporting or competing. Using my powers of deduction however, I can predict that biblical quantities of rain + the first of the autumn snows = fairly grim conditions. So if you’re heading out, best pack spare brake pads, spare shoes, spare waterproofs and a spare sense of humour for the slippy trails. Those living in the valley will resort to the usual spare liver techniques until normal service is resumed.

Huge congratulations to everyone involved in any of the 4 races, and especially Colin Thornton & Fred Yong, you guys are machines!

01/09/2012
Time gentlemen, please

It’s been raining, some of the trees in the valley have started to yellow and town’s filling with ultra-runners, it can only mean one thing: the summer’s coming to an end, and the lifts shut down till the snow comes.

The Chamonix lift closures are staggered across the next 2 months:

VALLORCINE: 2^nd Sept

PRARION: 2^nd Sept

BREVENT CABLECAR: 2^nd Sept

LE TOUR GONDOLA & CHAIRLIFT: 9^th Sept

GRANDS MONTETS: 9^th Sept

PLANPRAZ GONDOLA: 16^th Sept (then Oct 27^th to Nov 7^th)

FLEGERE: 16^th Sept

BELLEVUE: 23^rd Sept

TRAMWAY DU MONT BLANC: 23rd Sept

What’s not mentioned is that the Vallorcine DH track, & gondola for bike uplift, closes for the season on Friday due to the Ultra Trail races, so anyone wanting to hit every lift in the valley in a day better get cracking. If you’re looking for a race to end your Chamonix biking season then conveniently the Club des sports de Chamonix have organised a 24hr VTT race in the valley over the weekend of the 22nd/23^rd September. For more information click

Outside of the valley, lift closing days start from the end of August and by October Champery & Verbier are pretty much your only choices (though Brevant’s back open again by then, which is nice.)

Grand Massif, started closing on the 26th, all done by 31^st Aug: http://www.grand-massif.com/ete/accedez_tarifs.php

La Thuile 2^nd Sept : http://www.lathuile.net/datapage.asp?id=41&l=3

Portes du Mont Blanc, 2^nd Sept : http://www.combloux.com/en/activities/summer/pass.html

Tignes / val d’isere 2^nd Sept (still FREE up till then!): http://www.tignes.net/en/summer-sports/free-and-unlimited-activities-252.html

Pila, 9^th Sept: http://aostavalleyfreeride.com/index.php with desarpa bike mass dh the weekend after 15^th/16th http://www.piladh.eu/en/desarpa-bike/

Portes du Soliel starts closing the weekend of 02nd September and is mostly closed by the 9^th, except Champery which keeps going to 7^th Oct: http://en.portesdusoleil.com/summer-lifts.html

Verbier 17th Sept, then weekends till 20/21^st Oct (if weather’s ok): http://www.verbierbikepark.ch/

As for conditions in the Chamonix valley at the moment, the complaints about the temperature and lack of rain have been answered and there’s been a few days of drizzle and a day of torrential rain. My friend Claire had come over for the weekend to get a break from the Scottish summer in Chamonix, fortunately she packed the goretex.

The skies cleared up on Sunday and, despite a cold grey start, the quick drying trails at Le Tour ensured normal summer service was resumed. The weather is still a bit cooler than it’s been of late, so things are not drying quite as fast as before and as a result there’s lots more grip on the trails. The natural trails are still very busy, though with the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc being at the weekend, the pedestrians are generally moving faster than the cyclists so it’s not the same problem, and in one week it will all be different…

28/08/2012
Lavancher action

Edit: Ignore all of the below, the mayor has announced that CdMB canny build a road up through either Lavancher or from Les Tines. Does this mean that community action works….

I wrote a while ago that the CdMB were proposing to create an access road through the Lavancher village and along the line of the current MTB track from Grand Montets to facilitate the new Plan Joran chairlift. Unsurprisingly there was a lot of local concern about this, as Lavancher village wasn’t built with large lorries in mind, and the new track would destroy the existing small trail.

Since then there has been some more local action, with a Facebook site (http://www.facebook.com/groups/237899679659718/) and online petition (http://www.petitions24.net/non_a_la_route_a_camions_du_lavancher_a_la_croix_de_lognan) created to help the community of Chamonix voice their concern.

So far the voices are being listened to, and Mayor Eric Fournier has asked CdMB to present a better case for the creation of a new road instead of the alternative options of using the existing access road, goods lift and helicopters.

The new chair will be built, but hopefully it won’t require the huge disruption to a small village, destruction of lots of natural forest habitat and, less importantly, the loss of one of the best official bike tracks in the valley.

12/08/2012
CdMB press release (and some Les Houches riding)

Read it here last! A little off the pace (I’ve been on holiday) and some time after everyone else has put it up, here’s an interesting press release from Compagnie du Mont Blanc about their commitment to biking:

Mountain biking in the Chamonix valley

Chamonix, August 3rd, 2012For three years now the Compagnie du Mont Blanc, aware of the ever increasing demand from mountain bikers, have made great efforts and significant improvements on the sites in the valley to offer mountain bikers more tracks to practice their favourite sport.The Balme area is particularly suited to this sport, so this year we have focused efforts on the creation of a new track off the Autannes chairlift.Here is up to date information on bike trails and areas in the valley:Balme : 3 tracks.
Piste de l’Ours Black track : from the top of the Vallorcine gondola down to Vallorcine.
Piste Océane Blue track : from the top of the Charamillon gondola back down to Le Tour. (Currently closed due to bad track conditions, a shaper will be called in next week)
Piste des Marmottes Green track : a new track from the top of the Autannes chairlift down to Charamillon (opening in August)
Bike patrol is on site from June to mid September.Flégère : 1 tracks not currently maintained but with open access.
Red track : which descends down to Le Praz.
The Compagnie du Mont Blanc has invested more than € 80 000 in recent years on the creation of mountain bike trails but it is clear that despite the massive investment, our company is not able to offer a suitable mountain bike area on this site. The decision has been made to waive any further investment on this site for mountain biking and focus our work on sites of Balme and Les Houches.Les Houches : No specific mountain bike tracks but a number of mountain bike trails are accessible.Brévent : No specific mountain bike tracks but a number of mountain bike trails are accessible.The work ahead is substantial, the Compagnie du Mont Blanc in partnership with the LH-SG (Prarion – Bellevue / Les Houches – St-Gervais) are currently working on the new plans for 2013.Rest assured that the Compagnie du Mont Blanc and the LH-SG are investing in the Balme and Les Houches sites to make the two sites dedicated to both amateur and professional mountain bikers.We hope, via this announcement, to prove that the Compagnie du Mont Blanc and the LH-SG Les Houches Saint Gervais, consider mountain biking as an activity with a future in the valley and that the two lift companies are currently working together on the development and preparation for 2013.The Compagnie du Mont Blanc’s operational team,will continue to communicate information on ongoing projects for 2013.We hope you enjoy your summer!

Perhaps more positively, CdMB have approached various folk in the valley to get their involvement and opinion on how to best work with mountain biking. Slightly worrying is the lack of comment on Grand Montets which currently has one of the best (and quietest) “natural” tracks accessible during the bike ban. Whilst the Flegere track is not going to get any more investment, CdMB seem happy for riders to maintain the track, and apparently tools will be lent out for anyone wanting to put in a bit of work. A word of caution from a few folk involved with CdMB at Le Tour and Les Houches is that negotiations for summer VTT tracks at both these areas is ongoing with land owners and new tracks getting built probably won’t help, so best keep to just track maintenance there!

Anyway, excited by the prospect of 2 VTT friendly hills on the Chamonix annual pass next year, Lorne & I headed down to the Bellevue lift at Les Houches and discovered that whilst CdMB can give, they can also taketh away…

Or “MTB track permanently closed summer 2012. We’re looking at maybe making a MTB track from the Prarion telecabine for summer 2013”

Anyway, the old trails from the Bellevue are still in pretty good condition, though as ever they take a long, long time to dry. Three days after the last rain and still we were dodging puddles. The boardwalk sections are in poor nick (one section collapsed on us as we rode along!) and most, though not all, of the wooden features have been removed. An added wooden feature is the large tree from the April storms which is still blocking a fast lower section of the main blue trail.

The best riding is probably on the assorted “black” sections which cut through the trees and have seen more maintenance from locals. Some of these sections can be pretty full on, so if it’s your first time through, there’s no shame in stopping to scope…..

After a few laps of the front we went for a run down to Les Houches. Tom (author of the Chamonix Bike Books) has raved about “Hugh’s way” for long enough, so having never ridden it, it seemed a good choice.

Unfortunately I was going off my memory and a pencil line amongst other pencil lines on my old map. As a result we had a few variations but, judging by the tyre tracks through the meadows, we weren’t the first, and probably won’t be the last. Suffice to say when Tom describes the “easy to miss” singletrack after the #8 piste marker pole, he’s being very accurate!

A great track nonetheless with lots of variety all 1175m of the way down, combined with a nice touristy train back up. If you’re looking to finish off your day at Les Houches with a run down to St Gervais bear in mind that the Tramway ISN’T included in the normal Chamonix biking lift pass, though is on your summer or annual pass. When you get to either the St Gervais or Le Fayet stations you’ll need to hand over your pass at the ticket desk to get a paper ticket for the train. Finally, it’s only the last 2 trams of the day that take bikes (although if they’re not busy you can usually get on trams earlier in the day) If all this seems to complicated, there’s always the normal train which runs from Le Fayet to Chamonix for about 5euro.

10/08/2012
Half time analysis

It’s about ½ way through the bike season here in Chamonix, which means everyone’s discovering what that annoying squeak/rattle/creak has been for the last couple weeks as various parts give up or fall off after a few months abuse.

The trails are kinda the same with lots of bikes, but not much maintenance, going down. So how are things fairing around the valley?

Le Tour seems to be the in place to ride this season with the rarest of all things; occasional queues of bikes for the up lift! The front side is holding up well, the original DH track under the gondola is still the most accessible riding for all, being fun for beginner and faster riders alike. A few of the corners and braking areas are getting a little cut up, but nothing too bad. The new track that’s been cut under the chair is starting to ride in now and is a good introduction for folks new to bikes, but it’s not been designed to anything like the same standards as the other man made tracks up there. Still, it’s a new track and hopefully the first of a few up at Le Tour.

The natural trails are still excellent, though Posettes is VERY busy with walkers and definitely best left till after the bike ban ends to avoid any chance of the trail being completely lost for bikes. The new sign board at the refuge helpfully tells us that “walking trials (sic)… are for hikers only” and “in case of Mountain Bike accident, the authorities disclaim all responsibilities” as well as showing a picture of trail damage on the descent from the col towards Trient, all caused by bikes not weather and walkers apparently.

Either way, it’s not a legal notice, but the excellent Les Jeurs descent is possibly better if you plan to take any of the singletrack down to Chatelard, Vallorcine, etc and much less frequented by walkers.

And the Vallorcine track? It’s getting a bit rutted in a few places, but nothing anyone who can ride the rest of the track can’t handle! The severity of the course has probably been what’s saved it from the braking bumps and skid trenches that beset easier tracks. Once again, big thanks out to the Vallorcine Mairie for creating this awesome run.

Elsewhere the trails seem to be fairly quiet for bikes, and busy with walkers. Grand Montets has tyre tracks in the puddles, but I’ve not seen anyone up there, which is a shame as it’s the most “natural” of the official VTT trails during July & August. The track is in good condition, although there are still 2 trees down in the middle section. The 1^st is duckable for the VERY short, and the 2^nd now has a strategically place stone to let you ride over it.

Flegere is a bit lost without its upper trails. They’re still there, but it’s not worth the pedal up to ride them. The lower track is holding up ok, but the puddles are definitely getting deeper when it’s rained

Finally, hoping to find some nice steep riding away from the crowds, I took a look up the Prarion gondola at Les Houches. I certainly found the technical trails, though I also met a few walkers all of whom passed some form of “you’re mental” and “good luck” comment. Although this isn’t exempt from the bike ban, I don’t think it’ll ever suffer from excessive use. The trail is mostly very technical, with sections verging on pure trials, and others where, if you were very very lucky, a slip would only leave you very hurt and without a bike. It’s too tight to be able to just jump the hard sections on a big bike, so that option’s out as well. On the off chance then that Chris Akrigg (watch this if you’re not sure who or what I mean) reads this and needs a challenge…..

01/08/2012